Tumbler for gold-dredging machines.



No. 763,869. PATENTED JUNE 28,-1904'. W. FBRRIS.

TUMBLER FOR GOLD DRBDGING MACHINES.

' APPLICATION FILED NOV. 9, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented June 28, 1904.

PATENT OEEIcE.

WALTER FERRIS, OF SOUTH MILWVAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO BUCYRUS COMPANY, OF SOUTH MILVAUKEE, W ISOONSIN, A COR- PORATION OF WISCONSIN.

TUMBLER FOR GOLD-DREDGING MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 763,869, dated June 28, 1904.

A li ation fil d November 9, 1903. Serial No. 180,4:19. (No model.)

To (oi/Z whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WVALTEE FERRIS, a citizen of the United States, residing in South Milwaukee, county of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tumblers for Gold-Dredging Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use use the same.

My invention relates to tumblers for dredging-machines and the like, and .more especially to the type of tumbler comprising two oppositely-disposed drum-sections separated by an intervening space to clear the tumbler of obstructing matter, the bearing-faces of said drums being provided with liners or wearing-plates to resist the abrasive action of the chain of buckets upon the tumbler-faces.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved form of wearing-plate or liner for the tumblerfaces, so as to effect a large economy in the use of wear-resisting material employed for this purpose, also to increase the life of the tumbler apparatus and to facilitate the repairing of the tumbler.

To this end the invention consists in employing, in connection with the tumbler-drums, symmetrically-formed interchangeable wearing-plates, which may be applied to the faces of either drum, so that as said plates become worn along one edge they may be shifted to the opposite drum, where the other wearing edge is interposed in the path of the buckets, so that all effective portions of the wear-plates will be used before the plates are discarded.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan View of a two-drum tumbler having my interchangeable liner applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one of said liners or wearing-plates.

It has been-proposed to construct the tumbler-drums with non-rectangular, preferably ratchetshaped,- supporting-faces to conform to the shape of the dredge-buckets and also to permit the tumbler to clear itself of stones or rocks that would otherwise lodge between the bucket-bottoms and the tumbler-faces. The faces are protected with wearing-plates, preferably of manganese steel; but owing to the shape of the bucket-bottoms the plates became worn only along their inner edges, so that when said wearing-plates conform to the face of the tumbler each plate is efiective only until its inner edge becomes worn too thin, after which said plate must be discarded and a new one substituted. I propose to obviate this difficulty and double the life of the plates by giving the plates a symmetrical form, so that when one edge becomes worn the plate may beinterchanged with another plate on the opposite drum, whereby both plates will present a new edge to the buckets.

Referring to the drawings, 2 2 represent the drums or rolls of a tumbler, mounted upon a suitable shaft 1. Each of said drums is provided with polygonal rims 4, constituting bearing-faces for the buckets, and each face is formed with a non-rectangular and preferably ratchet-shaped contour to provide a bearingsurface conforming to the shape of the bucket and to afford comparatively large open spaces between the drums, through which all obstructing matter tending to clog the tumbler is forced. Each face 4: is covered and protected by a liner or wearing-plate 5, which according to my invention is formed as a symmetrical polygon, having homologous sides 6 6, 7 7 8 8, and 9 9, lying on opposite sides of the axis of symmetry re 00, which axis when the plate is in position on the tumbler-face bisects the angle a 7) 0 formed by the bounding edges of the tumbler-face. It is also desirable that each plate be provided with holes 10 10, located symmetrically with respect to the axis of symmetry 02 m, as indicated in Fig. 1, so that the plates may be secured by belts or rivets engaging corresponding holes in either the right or left hand tumbler-faces.

It will be evident that the wearing-plates 5 will fit equally well on the faces 4: 4L of either drum, so that when the edges of said plates next to the transverse center end of the tumbler become worn the securing bolts or rivets may be removed and the plates interchanged between the right and left hand drum-faces, thereby disposing the worn edges of the plates against the tumbler-flanges out of the path of movement of the bucket-bottoms and exposing the fresh unworn edges to contact with said bucket-bottoms. By this means the plates may be quickly changed when they become Worn, and as each plate is successively subjected to wear on two of its edges its life is increased twofold, thereby efiecting a large saving in the expense of renewing said plates.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim is 1. A tumbler for dredging-machines and the like, comprising oppositelydisposed drumsections mounted upon a shaft, and symmetrically-formed wearing-plates adapted to be applied to the bearing-surfaces of either drum.

2. A tumbler for dredging-machines and the like, comprising oppositely-disposed drum- 

